Experiencing cancelled or delayed flights and navigating refunds for them are some of the more annoying aspects of air travel, depending on where you are in the world.
Remuneration requests require a lot of time and motivation on behalf of consumers: to make phone calls, wait on hold, and dig through piles of paperwork or an inbox full of emails.
Here in Australia, consumer advocacy groups have long pushed for a code of conduct that would ensure minimum standards of treatment for passengers.
Currently, there are no aviation-specific consumer protection laws in place.
Under the existing framework, contracts between airlines and consumers are governed under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and it's at the discretion of airlines to set the terms and conditions of refunds and travel credits.
Rosie Thomas, director of campaigns at consumer group Choice, says Australia is out of step with international jurisdictions when it comes to establishing clear rules in the aviation sector.
"We think it's well overdue for [Australia] to introduce some airlines-specific consumer protections to bring us in line with the rest of the world," she said.
In comparison, the European Union legislation mandates that airlines provide passengers with certain levels of care and with cash compensation after significant delays.
New rules introduced in the United States will soon see airlines held to clear and consistent standards on flight cancellations, delays or unexpected changes to a passenger's travel plans.
The requirements, which were announced last week by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and will come into effect in October, instruct airlines to promptly provide travellers with automatic cash refunds and be more up-front about additional fees in their pricing.
John Breyault from America's National Consumers League says the changes will "eliminate a lot of the headaches consumers have to endure".
So what could these new rules mean for American passengers preparing to fly later this year and what lessons could they hold for Australia?
Australian consumers fed up with cancellations and delays
One of the biggest gripes of Australian airline customers, according to Choice, is cancelled flights and unexplained delays.
Almost a third of flights were cancelled or delayed over the January holiday period this year, with Qantas and Virgin postponing 1,305 flights that month.
The ACCC and industry insiders have previously accused major airlines of dropping flights tactically in a practice known as "slot hoarding"
The tactic allows major airlines to intentionally book and then cancel flights to prevent competition at airports. As long as the service cancellations do not occur more than 20 per cent of the time, the airlines keep the slot at the expense of a competitor.
The sector has also been under close scrutiny since the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal action against Qantas over the sale of seats on flights that had already been cancelled.
The airline agreed to compensate customers, in a deal reached with the consumer watchdog earlier this week.
When an individual buys a ticket, they expect to arrive at their destination as close as possible to the time that they booked. And when that doesn't happen, they want to be reimbursed in some way.
But in a survey of 9,000 people asked about their airline experiences, Choice found that of those who pursued a refund or compensation for a delay or cancelled flight, one in five had to wait more than six months.
Ms Thomas says fed-up consumers have complained of having to "fight tooth and nail" to be compensated when travel plans go awry.
"As part of the minimum consumer protections that need to be introduced and legislated in Australia, I think consumers would welcome the certainty of knowing that if a flight is cancelled, or doesn't go to plan, that they don't need to request or chase up the refunds," she told the ABC.
The ACCC, Choice, and other legal and consumer groups have called for laws to allow domestic travellers to be compensated when airlines delay or cancel flights, or when their luggage is lost or damaged in transit.
A Pay on Delay bill introduced by Coalition senators last month also proposed new protections that would oblige airlines to provide refunds or compensation when an airline chooses to cancel or delay flights.
But one airline has already rejected the idea. Last year, Qantas said paying compensation for delayed and cancelled flights would be "a backwards step" and would "increase confusion and complaints and materially increase costs, ultimately leading to higher fares".
In America, consumer advocates have made similar pushes for clear guidelines and greater recognition of passenger rights when it comes to flying.
These efforts date back to the early 1970s when individuals were forced to sue to recover money lost to delays but, for the most part, airlines were allowed to set their own rules when it came to issuing refunds.
That was until the Transport Department issued new set of rules last week, which laid out a series of minimum protections for consumers.
America wants to make cash refunds automatic
DOT will soon require airlines to automatically issue refunds when their flights are cancelled or significantly changed, their checked bags are significantly delayed, or purchased ancillary services, such as wi-fi, are not provided.
Other changes will force airlines and ticket agents to:
- Promptly issue refunds within seven business days for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods
- Provide refunds in cash or whatever original payment method the individual used to make the purchase and not substitute vouchers, travel credits, or other forms of compensation unless the passenger chooses to accept it
- Provide full refunds of the ticket purchase price, minus the value of any portion of transportation already used, including all fees
Mr Breyault from America's National Consumers League says the new rules will make the process of securing a refund more seamless for the customer.
"If I buy a toaster and I go home, plug it in and it doesn't toast my bread, I can take that back and get my money back," he told the ABC.
"We think that it should be that easy when you are buying a ticket for air travel and the airline doesn't provide the service that you paid for."
The new requirements also set parameters around "significant" delays — more than three hours domestically and six hours internationally — and on ticket purchases, with airlines and ticket agents now required to tell consumers up-front what fees they will be charged for things like baggage.
The last rule is designed to help consumers avoid unexpected charges that can quickly spiral and add significant cost to what may, at first, look like a cheap ticket.
Junk fees are less of an issue in Australia despite there being no set guidelines on them. Under the ACL, they tend to fall within misleading or deceptive conduct and the regulator, the ACCC, has acted previously to stamp it out.
Janet Bednarek, an aviation researcher and professor of history at the University of Dayton in Ohio, says DOT's requirements will now mean all airlines are "playing by the same rules".
"[This way] you don't have to try to figure out 'OK, what airline was I on? What are their rules?'" she told the ABC.
American Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says his department has legal authority to enforce the new rules, but Congress is also considering a massive $US105 billion ($159 billion) Federal Aviation Administration bill, which includes some of these provisions.
Ms Thomas, who has been following DOT's new rules from Australia, says airlines that operate in the US, such as Qantas, will also have to comply in six months.
"If they're going to be building the systems and processes to comply in the US, we have to ask why Australian consumers shouldn't get the same benefits," she said.
It is understood Qantas is working out how the new rules will apply to them.
Europe is a step ahead on consumer protections
The requirements bring Americans closer to European-style consumer protections in the aviation industry.
Passengers there have some of the best consumer safeguards in the world when it comes to flying but industry insiders caution it is not the gold standard.
"Europe is ahead of the United States when it comes to passenger protection regulations," Mr Breyault said, adding this was especially true for delay compensation rules.
Under European Union regulation EC261, all flights departing from or arriving in a member state within the bloc as well as Norway or Iceland qualify for refunds in the event of a cancellation or a delay of more than three hours.
The amount is between 250 euros ($407) and 600 euros ($977) per passenger, depending on the distance of the flight, and passengers stuck killing time in the waiting area are entitled to refreshments and beverages free of charge.
In the case of a delay of five hours or more, customers also have the right to cancel the flight and receive full reimbursement or another return flight at their earliest opportunity.
It's worth noting the rules don't apply to extraordinary events, such as bad weather.
DOT has signalled it would like to bring delay compensation rules in the US closer in line with those in Europe, but there has been no official announcement yet.
"It recognises a very simple concept, which is that consumers' time is valuable," Mr Breyault said.
"…So we are looking for that to happen."
Could Australia adopt similar rules?
The existing legislative framework in the Europe Union and the new guidelines soon to be in place in America offer some examples of how minimum consumer protections could work in Australia.
Keith Tonkin, an aviation expert and managing director of Aviation Projects, says consumers here would be better served by something similar to what America is preparing to implement.
"Why hasn't it been done? I think it's probably because of resistance from the airlines to accommodate that change, and to be able to provide that service in response to a claim," he said.
He explains that part of the airlines' consideration when it comes to refunds revolves around there being a "very significant administration overhead in trying to get that money back to people".
In a statement to the ABC, a spokesperson for Virgin Australia said "where possible, we proactively communicate with guests who have been impacted by a schedule change".
"Virgin Australia has a Guest Compensation Policy that sets out what customers are entitled to when their flights are disrupted including other flight options, a travel credit, or a refund for the value of the booking," they said.
The federal government's upcoming aviation white paper is set to look at issues such as safety, competitiveness, sustainability and efficiency in the sector as well as consumer protection.
One of the questions raised in the green paper released last year was whether policies pursued in other jurisdictions – such as a Passenger Bill of Rights or a stronger ombudsman model – would deliver benefits in Australia's aviation sector?
In its submission to the paper's terms of reference, Choice encouraged the Department to implement minimum consumer protections that make it easier for consumers to:
- Receive a refund
- Mandate minimum requirements for travel vouchers/credits
- Introduce a mandatory industry code of practice
- Establish a new travel and tourism ombudsman and
- Mandate information standards
The white paper is expected to be released in mid-2024.
